ULiège
" As the coronavirus epidemic progresses throughout the country, it imposes exceptional sanitary measures on undertakers in order to slow down its spread. In the event of a patient's death, the federal government has issued strict instructions to funeral staff for the care of the body of a patient who died as a result of a coronavirus infection. The body of the deceased must automatically be placed in a double biodegradable body bag before being transferred to the mortuary (The Royal Federation of Funeral Directors of Belgium a.s.b.l., 2020). It is then impossible for families to proceed with the placing. The body must be placed in a single coffin without delay. The coffin will be closed definitively without the possibility of an act of thanatopraxy. In view of these important changes in the care of the deceased, it is likely that funeral workers will develop difficulties or disorders in connection with the performance of their work. It is therefore necessary to investigate these problems and the coping strategies implemented by these workers to deal with the extent of the phenomenon. Indeed, their role can be compared to that of the nurse who becomes immersed in the trauma experienced by the patient or family and witnesses the distress of others (Lebel, 2015). In normal times, it was observed that funeral workers spoke very little about their day when they returned home (Caroly, 2004). What is the situation today? The methodology of this study includes the completion of four online questionnaires. These are related to coping strategies (Ways of coping checklist: WCC Folkman, Lazarus, 1980; Vitaliano et al., 1985), peritraumatic distress (PDI: Brunet et al., 2001), quality of working life (ProQOL scale: 2005), and secondary trauma (secondary trauma scale by Bride et al in 2004). In addition, the presentation of the online questionnaire will include a paragraph on the possibility of participating in this study via a Skype meeting for a more in-depth interview on the experiences of these participants. "
Funding: No specific funding
Publication References: Caroly, S., (2004), En aparté avec les morts… Peur, larmes et rire au travail : les métiers du funéraire, Terrains, 43. La Fédération Royale des entrepreneurs de pompes funèbres de Belgique a.s.b.l. (2020). Mesures en Wallonie. https://funebra.be/mesures-en-wallonie/ Lebel, G., (2015), Traumatisme vicariant ou fatigue de compassion Méfiez-vous !, Santé mentale, 12 (2), 32-34.
Contact: Prof. Adélaïde Blavier Laetitia Di Piazza Adelaide.Blavier@ulg.ac.be Laetitia.Dipiazza@Uliege.be